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Sasol - changes to group executive committee
Sasol announced on Monday, 25 February that Mr Stephan Schoeman, the Group Executive Committee (GEC) member responsible for, among others, Sasol's Lake Charles Chemicals Project in Louisiana in the United States (LCCP), will be retiring from the Company after 30 years of service.
With effect from 1 April 2019, project accountabilities for the LCCP will report to Mr Fleetwood Grobler in his capacity as EVP: Chemicals Business. The commissioning and operations of the LCCP already report to Mr Bernard Klingenberg, who is the EVP responsible for Sasol operations globally.
As announced on 8 February 2019, engineering and procurement activities were substantially complete at the end of December 2018, and construction progress was at 84%.
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Sasol - Market Making Services Agreement
Sasol has entered into a Market Making Services Agreement (the "Agreement") with Ngonyama Capital, in terms of which Ngonyama Capital will purchase and sell SOLBE1 Shares in the open market with the objective of enhancing the value proposition of SOLBE1 Shares and increasing the liquidity of SOLBE1 Shares in the open market.
Under the Agreement, which has been entered into for a period of three years and which may be terminated on notice by either party, Ngonyama Capital will be the beneficial owner of SOLBE1 Shares and will buy and sell SOLBE1 Shares in the open market as a principal, for its own account and sole risk and independent of and without influence by Sasol. Ngonyama Capital will endeavour to purchase 100 000 SOLBE1 Shares in the open market within a period of six months from the date of this announcement. In consideration for rendering the market making services under the Agreement, Ngonyama Capital will be paid a fee calculated at a total of 15%, spread over the three year period of the Agreement, of the average daily net value of SOLBE1 Shares held by Ngonyama Capital. A break fee will be payable to Ngonyama if Sasol terminates the Agreement without reason before the expiry of three years. The Agreement will be available for inspection during normal working hours at the Company's company secretarial services office at Sasol Place, 50 Katherine Street, Sandton.
Ngonyama Capital will commence the market making services in terms of the Agreement on Thursday, February 21, 2019
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Sasol - beneficial operation achieved
Shareholders of Sasol are referred to the Company's updated trading statement released on the Stock Exchange News Service (SENS) on 8 February 2019, wherein the Company provided an update on our Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP) in Louisiana in the USA.
Further to this announcement, Sasol is pleased to announce that its new linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit in Lake Charles achieved beneficial operations on 13 February 2019. This is the first of the seven LCCP production units to come online.
This milestone follows the safe and successful commissioning of the steam system, which produced first steam on 1 August 2018, a few weeks earlier than planned. Furthermore, all utilities to support the early process units at LCCP were fully operational by the end of November 2018.
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Sasol - updated trading statement
Shareholders of Sasol are referred to the Company's trading statement released on the Stock Exchange News Service (SENS) on 21 November 2018 (Announcement), wherein the Company indicated that an updated trading statement will be released on SENS in January 2019, once reasonable certainty is attained with regards to the 31 December 2018 half-year financial results.
Sasol has now reached a reasonable degree of certainty that the financial performance for the six months ended 31 December 2018 (half year 2019) is expected to be within the updated earnings ranges below. Core headline earnings per share (Core HEPS) and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are within the previously provided range as outlined in the Announcement. However, the Company is revising the range slightly upwards with regards to earnings per share (EPS) and headline earnings per share (HEPS). The main reason for the increase is the impact of half year-end valuation adjustments associated with crude oil hedges and closing exchange rates. The updated ranges can be summarised as follows:
EPS
Estimated half year 2019 - R23.71 – R24.16
Actual half year 2018 - R11.29
Expected % change - 110% – 114%
HEPS
Estimated half year 2019 - R22.97 – R23.68
Actual half year 2018 - R17.67
Expected % change - 30% – 34%
Core HEPS
Estimated half year 2019 - R21.14 – R21.86
Actual half year 2018 - R18.22
Expected % change - 16% – 20%
EBITDA
Estimated half year 2019 - R26 billion – R28 billion
Actual half year 2018 - R24.2 billion
Expected % change - 8% – 16%
Cost
The normalised cash fixed cost for the period under review has been contained to below Sasol's 6% inflation target despite operational challenges experienced during the period.
LCCP update
As at the end of December 2018, engineering and procurement activities were substantially complete and construction progress was at 84%. Sasol's overall project completion was 94% and capital expenditure amounted to USD10.9 billion.
The first derivative unit, linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), produced first product in January 2019 and beneficial operation is expected in February, approximately two months behind schedule. Utilities to support the early process units were fully operational by end November 2018. These utilities together with LLDPE will comprise ~40% of the LCCP existing total cost. Unfortunately, during the last quarter of CY2018, several factors within and beyond Sasol's control impacted the completion schedule and associated cost for the remaining units resulting in the overall project capital cost estimate being revised from USD11.13 billion to a range of USD11.6 – 11.8 billion. The difference between the upper end and lower end of the range represents a contingency and weather provision of USD200 million.
While Sasol's underlying productivity factor remained on track, the inclement weather, scope additions and absenteeism had a significant impact on actual productivity. These factors were assessed and quantified late in Q4 CY2018 and where feasible, management interventions were put in place to arrest the controllable trends. Unfortunately, the mitigating actions were not successful in reversing the full impact on schedule and cost.
More details on the project can be found in the updated project factsheet at www.sasol.com/investor-centre/lake-charles-chemicals-project/lake-charles- chemicals-project-fact-sheet.
The financial information on which this trading statement is based has not been reviewed and reported on by the Company's external auditors. Sasol will release its reviewed results for the six months ended 31 December 2018 on Monday, 25 February 2019.
A detailed summary of the production and sales metrics for the financial half year for all of Sasol's businesses is available on the Company's website, www.sasol.com
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